HB 296 Summary

• Establishes the Alabama Child Care Provider Inclusion Act of 2015 to prohibit state discrimination against child care service providers based on religious beliefs.

• Prevents the state from refusing to license, renew licenses, or taking adverse actions against providers that decline to provide services conflicting with their sincerely held religious beliefs.

• Specifies that a provider's refusal to provide a service cannot limit another provider's ability to offer that same service to ensure continued access.

• Authorizes injured providers to seek declaratory relief, injunctive relief, damages, reasonable attorneys' fees, and costs for violations.

• Takes effect immediately upon passage and gubernatorial approval.